These past few weeks have been eventful and not so eventful at the same time...here is a summary of the past few weeks and hopefully the start of more regular postings...
Roberta (my best Italian friend) came to visit me from the 22nd-25th of September. It was a very quick and lovely reunion. Roberta REALLY wanted to get out of Sicily and it was so nice that she would come and visit me here in Bayonne. At first I was worried since she is a bit shy to speak English or French (both of which she knows a bit of) and Selim speaks minimal Italian. So you can imagine communication was going to be an issue. It turned out rather funny and frustrating (for Selim) if I may say so. With Roberta there within a few hours I was speaking Italian again like old times...except sometimes I would form a sentence with French, Spanish, English and Italian all together...which was a bit confusing for everyone present. The frustrating part was most likely at meals when I would look Selim straight in the eyes and speak to him in Italian, fully convinced that either he understood everything I was saying or that I was speaking to him in French. He was a good sport about it tho... he would let me go on and on until i finished and he would politely tell me "you just said everything in Italian, i didn't understand anything"....ooops. Anyway... the three of us had a really nice time together. I was happy the Roberta could meet Selim and the same that he could meet Roberta. They got along very well and became friends as well in the short time she was here.
It was nice to see my old friend after such a long time apart. To catch up, to girl talk, and mostly just to be near someone who is so important in my life.
After she left it was back to business...Selim and I put up signs all round Bayonne to tell people that I am available to give private English lessons. I also posted on all the "Craigs List" of France about the same type of lessons. The response was not as big as I would have liked but I did have a few people who called who were really interested in lessons... unfortunately most of them were out of the area so i would have to spend 3 hours traveling and waiting for one hour of lessons and more importantly only one hour of PAYMENT sooo... yeah.
I got my resume translated and wrote my cover letter in French with Selim's help. His mom is now revising for us and we will start posting as soon as we get the thumbs up!
We threw a dinner party last week Thursday. Selim invited four of his friends over to our place for dinner and so the planning began. I decided the menu would be Italian themed and it formed from there... It turned out really nice. Everyone loved the food and the decor and so it was a complete success...the next day was a lazy day. I was exhausted and took time off to relax.
The weather here is still like summer...although it does get cold at night and is not warm till about 11 or so in the morning but from 11-5 its warm and in the sun its perfect. I really cant complain and force my self to get out and enjoy the sun.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
From balls to blackberries ...later edited: From balls to leaky sinks
Sunday has now been named "Sunday, Adventure-day". We seem to be able to fit in a little adventure of sorts in the early afternoon till the evening...
Last Sunday we went to the mountains in Spain and this week we went to a new area along the cost of France that we've never visited...That morning we were discussing what type of day we wanted to have. I wanted to go to the beach and he wanted to go for a hike or somewhere his dog could go with us. So we ended up doing both...
We ended up in this area...map if you zoom in on the "B" we stayed on the small cove like beach. There is no name for the beach because it is rather small and has no life guards on duty at any time. So i guess you could call it a private beach... but you don't have to pay to go there. One thing they should put on the entrance to the beach is "bathing suit optional". At first I didn't notice anything, as I was preoccupied with trying to find a good spot for us to lay with the dog...but you can imagine my surprise when we sat down to eat lunch and I saw a COMPLETELY NUDE man and woman coming out of the water... JAW DROP!
Ok after the initial shock I thought I was going to be fine...God gave us these bodies..everyone knows what a body looks like... its natural. I mean even on the other beaches I've been to here all the girls have their tops off anyway so I mean it was not that different to what I'm kinda use to. WAIT... what am I saying... it was completely different still. Well Selim and Sarko (his dog) went to go for a snorkel/swim while I finished eating and told them I would walk over and meet them when I was done. So I finished, took my flippers and walked along the beach toward where they were close to shore. OOOOMMMMMGGGGG! naked man after naked man after naked man. I've never seen so MUCH penis in my entire life! Which I must say was much more shocking to see than the much more familiar naked women bodies.
So we had a nice snorkel and eventually made it back to our towels...via the water (thank the lord) we were able to dodge all the balls on the beach. lol. hahahahhaha. So we were enjoying the sun (clothed in our bathing suits, thank you very much) and it was really nice. I kept thinking in my head "its September! and I'm getting a tan!" ahhhhhhhhhh!
Anyway it wasn't until later that I had to explain to Selim that its often a joke in the US that almost everyone has a "crazy uncle". I had to explain this idea/ phrase to him because I kept calling this guy on the beach "a crazy uncle". Why? well just picture this in your mind. A nice family, spending time together on the beach. Probably four adults and about six children more or less. The kids ages were most likely form 9-16 or so. OK so now you probably have this nice visual in your head right? Ah ok... now just strip one of the men BUTT NAKED and put him in the middle this nice family picture...enter "the crazy uncle" of the group. But what made it continually weird was that we would do strange things like play paddle ball NAKED, snorkel NAKED, tickle one of the girls NAKED. It was all rather REALLY strange. On that note, we decided to leave the strange naked beach and its crazy uncle and go for a hike.
It was about a ten min walk back to the car through a path which was parallel the coast. As we strolled along this path Selim found fresh bay leaves! We took some branches to dry at home. Among other things we found were wild black berries! YUM!
When we made it back to the car we took the path which continued on past the parking lot we were in. It led us up a hill and around a corner to another beautiful cove like beach, a bit larger and not as beautiful. (if you zoomed in to the map above, its the beach to the left of the"B"). The sun had just started to come down and was bouncing off the sea it made it quite difficult to get some pictures or really enjoy the view. But it was still majestic and really fun to discover!
When we got home I made a simple dinner focused around my craving for "Tonio's garlic bread". We had pasta with arabiata sauce, salad and the garlic bread. It was all delicious and i passed out directly after that.
This morning is nothing special but our sink in the kitchen has been clogging the past couple of days. While i was cleaning dishes it REALLY was not draining this am...so i couldn't even finish the dishes from last night since the sink was full of dirty water. In the middle of writing this entry i went to go get something to drink and found a trail of water form the sink to just under the fridge...I cleaned what i could and put some pots under the leaks in our pipes and am now just waiting for Selim to come home and figure the rest out... where is MY uncle when i need him. lol.
all for now
Last Sunday we went to the mountains in Spain and this week we went to a new area along the cost of France that we've never visited...That morning we were discussing what type of day we wanted to have. I wanted to go to the beach and he wanted to go for a hike or somewhere his dog could go with us. So we ended up doing both...
We ended up in this area...map if you zoom in on the "B" we stayed on the small cove like beach. There is no name for the beach because it is rather small and has no life guards on duty at any time. So i guess you could call it a private beach... but you don't have to pay to go there. One thing they should put on the entrance to the beach is "bathing suit optional". At first I didn't notice anything, as I was preoccupied with trying to find a good spot for us to lay with the dog...but you can imagine my surprise when we sat down to eat lunch and I saw a COMPLETELY NUDE man and woman coming out of the water... JAW DROP!
Ok after the initial shock I thought I was going to be fine...God gave us these bodies..everyone knows what a body looks like... its natural. I mean even on the other beaches I've been to here all the girls have their tops off anyway so I mean it was not that different to what I'm kinda use to. WAIT... what am I saying... it was completely different still. Well Selim and Sarko (his dog) went to go for a snorkel/swim while I finished eating and told them I would walk over and meet them when I was done. So I finished, took my flippers and walked along the beach toward where they were close to shore. OOOOMMMMMGGGGG! naked man after naked man after naked man. I've never seen so MUCH penis in my entire life! Which I must say was much more shocking to see than the much more familiar naked women bodies.
So we had a nice snorkel and eventually made it back to our towels...via the water (thank the lord) we were able to dodge all the balls on the beach. lol. hahahahhaha. So we were enjoying the sun (clothed in our bathing suits, thank you very much) and it was really nice. I kept thinking in my head "its September! and I'm getting a tan!" ahhhhhhhhhh!
Anyway it wasn't until later that I had to explain to Selim that its often a joke in the US that almost everyone has a "crazy uncle". I had to explain this idea/ phrase to him because I kept calling this guy on the beach "a crazy uncle". Why? well just picture this in your mind. A nice family, spending time together on the beach. Probably four adults and about six children more or less. The kids ages were most likely form 9-16 or so. OK so now you probably have this nice visual in your head right? Ah ok... now just strip one of the men BUTT NAKED and put him in the middle this nice family picture...enter "the crazy uncle" of the group. But what made it continually weird was that we would do strange things like play paddle ball NAKED, snorkel NAKED, tickle one of the girls NAKED. It was all rather REALLY strange. On that note, we decided to leave the strange naked beach and its crazy uncle and go for a hike.
It was about a ten min walk back to the car through a path which was parallel the coast. As we strolled along this path Selim found fresh bay leaves! We took some branches to dry at home. Among other things we found were wild black berries! YUM!
When we made it back to the car we took the path which continued on past the parking lot we were in. It led us up a hill and around a corner to another beautiful cove like beach, a bit larger and not as beautiful. (if you zoomed in to the map above, its the beach to the left of the"B"). The sun had just started to come down and was bouncing off the sea it made it quite difficult to get some pictures or really enjoy the view. But it was still majestic and really fun to discover!
When we got home I made a simple dinner focused around my craving for "Tonio's garlic bread". We had pasta with arabiata sauce, salad and the garlic bread. It was all delicious and i passed out directly after that.
This morning is nothing special but our sink in the kitchen has been clogging the past couple of days. While i was cleaning dishes it REALLY was not draining this am...so i couldn't even finish the dishes from last night since the sink was full of dirty water. In the middle of writing this entry i went to go get something to drink and found a trail of water form the sink to just under the fridge...I cleaned what i could and put some pots under the leaks in our pipes and am now just waiting for Selim to come home and figure the rest out... where is MY uncle when i need him. lol.
all for now
Sunday, September 19, 2010
From tourist to tour guide and other exciting advancements...
Things are continually taking shape here! Its getting more exciting and real...
Developments:
*I have a phone! which means i have a phone number! I kind of forgot how liberating it is to have a phone of my own. I have a "plan" in which i am able to txt within France unlimited and call people for 44 min/month. Its exciting. The few people i know here i have txt to let them know I'm in the technological age and it was exciting to communicate with them on my own, at my own will, etc. Its also nice because Selim can just shoot me a txt if hes going to be late... or for me to let him know something while he is working. Its a whole new development in this living in France thing...
This phone also means that I can hopefully start to make some money by having potential students to tutor call me! The poster I have made to collect these students will be going up tomorrow and I'm hoping for at least one student a day... or 5 students a week. Any type of combination like that is ideal. To make some pocket money/ keep me busy while I look for something more legit.(its all very exciting)!!!!
*I made a friend! Unfortunately not one which lives in France but a friend non the less! She is from Holland and was in town visiting one of Selim's good friends. It was really nice to have some female company and have some girl talk. Thursday night we as a group went to Spain to have a nice evening of TAPAS, CERVEZAS(beer) and DANCING. The place we went to is called San Sebastian and is often the place we go to make a real party... check out where is is and what the city looks like here: map and for the foodies (aka my mother) enjoy the video.Anyway San Sebastian, be it for the food, drinks, beach or over all Spanish culture is a great place to have near by!
We all had a nice evening together. Moenira and i made a date to do some sight seeing while our boys we working for the next day. We met up and i took her on a nice tour of Biarritz, which is a must see if you come to Bayonne. So although the weather was not the best, a bit of an over cast, the wind was almost unnoticeable even next to the ocean and with the good company we had a nice day together. Lunch at a cafe to milk our hangover from Spain and a cappuccino for extra energy and we were ready to continue our touring.
When the afternoon was over I told her just to give me a call if they wanted to do anything for the evening... dinner, drinks, going out etc. By the time i got the message I was in the middle of making dinner and suggested that they just come over and eat with us. Selim was a great sport and helped out in putting a bit of order in the apartment, setting some mood lighting, music and incense. When they arrived it was perfect timing and we had a nice dinner of rice, tomatoes with cilantro and evoo, green beans with garlic, honey and almonds and finally honey-almond encrusted salmon. OH and i almost forgot the MOST important part... 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of ASTI! not martini rossi asti... but asti non the less. It was a nice evening of having company over and hosting. When the bottles were finished we said our good byes and finished our night.
So those are 2 exciting updates at the moment.
Today is Sunday and im hoping that the sky will stay clear of clouds so it will be sunny. No exact plans yet, but im hoping for a discover, adventure/ beach day! yay
Developments:
*I have a phone! which means i have a phone number! I kind of forgot how liberating it is to have a phone of my own. I have a "plan" in which i am able to txt within France unlimited and call people for 44 min/month. Its exciting. The few people i know here i have txt to let them know I'm in the technological age and it was exciting to communicate with them on my own, at my own will, etc. Its also nice because Selim can just shoot me a txt if hes going to be late... or for me to let him know something while he is working. Its a whole new development in this living in France thing...
This phone also means that I can hopefully start to make some money by having potential students to tutor call me! The poster I have made to collect these students will be going up tomorrow and I'm hoping for at least one student a day... or 5 students a week. Any type of combination like that is ideal. To make some pocket money/ keep me busy while I look for something more legit.(its all very exciting)!!!!
*I made a friend! Unfortunately not one which lives in France but a friend non the less! She is from Holland and was in town visiting one of Selim's good friends. It was really nice to have some female company and have some girl talk. Thursday night we as a group went to Spain to have a nice evening of TAPAS, CERVEZAS(beer) and DANCING. The place we went to is called San Sebastian and is often the place we go to make a real party... check out where is is and what the city looks like here: map and for the foodies (aka my mother) enjoy the video.Anyway San Sebastian, be it for the food, drinks, beach or over all Spanish culture is a great place to have near by!
We all had a nice evening together. Moenira and i made a date to do some sight seeing while our boys we working for the next day. We met up and i took her on a nice tour of Biarritz, which is a must see if you come to Bayonne. So although the weather was not the best, a bit of an over cast, the wind was almost unnoticeable even next to the ocean and with the good company we had a nice day together. Lunch at a cafe to milk our hangover from Spain and a cappuccino for extra energy and we were ready to continue our touring.
When the afternoon was over I told her just to give me a call if they wanted to do anything for the evening... dinner, drinks, going out etc. By the time i got the message I was in the middle of making dinner and suggested that they just come over and eat with us. Selim was a great sport and helped out in putting a bit of order in the apartment, setting some mood lighting, music and incense. When they arrived it was perfect timing and we had a nice dinner of rice, tomatoes with cilantro and evoo, green beans with garlic, honey and almonds and finally honey-almond encrusted salmon. OH and i almost forgot the MOST important part... 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of ASTI! not martini rossi asti... but asti non the less. It was a nice evening of having company over and hosting. When the bottles were finished we said our good byes and finished our night.
So those are 2 exciting updates at the moment.
Today is Sunday and im hoping that the sky will stay clear of clouds so it will be sunny. No exact plans yet, but im hoping for a discover, adventure/ beach day! yay
Thursday, September 16, 2010
From sports to bank accounts
This week has been a little more realistic...
We have been putting together life here a bit more. Yesterday we opened a joint back account so that I can get the basics here like a cell phone, library card or gym membership. Even the simplest of things needs to be connected to a bank account of sorts. I guess it makes sense within a country which rarely uses credit. So that got done yesterday... our debit cards should be coming in the mail any day now.
Also...my name is officially on the mailbox and my name will now appear on water, gas and electric bills! WOW... all that happened yesterday. It was quite exciting to feel like I'm making this place a part of my own as well.
Other than that we have been enjoying each others company from playing tennis, to biking/running together... I'll give you one guess as to who is doing the biking and who is doing the running...and we also checkout a gym near by...easily accessible by bus or bike. I still need to see how that fits into the budget...but it was good to check out. It was probably the nicest in the area but no larger than the gym at UB (if not smaller). And the equipment was simple and gets the job done. No American gym frills like your own personal TV on your elliptical...DARN.
On a foodie note: I tried this new couscous salad recipe. It was suppose to be curried couscous salad... it turned out really good but i think it could have used MUCH more curry than called for in the recipe... either way it was delicious and Selim liked it too...he finished off the entire batch yesterday for dinner.
Moving on... the next few days will be raining. I'm hoping to get some work done at home...
Also our friend JB has a friend in from out of the country... i think we will be meeting up with them today.
Always trying to stay productive and improve my french everyday...more to come soon.
PS. on the way back from my bike ride yesterday I saw a mother holding her young daughter in a sitter position by a bush so that the little girl could pee... that is something which I don't think ill every get used to; the accepted act of children urinating in public.
oh Europe youre full of suprises...
We have been putting together life here a bit more. Yesterday we opened a joint back account so that I can get the basics here like a cell phone, library card or gym membership. Even the simplest of things needs to be connected to a bank account of sorts. I guess it makes sense within a country which rarely uses credit. So that got done yesterday... our debit cards should be coming in the mail any day now.
Also...my name is officially on the mailbox and my name will now appear on water, gas and electric bills! WOW... all that happened yesterday. It was quite exciting to feel like I'm making this place a part of my own as well.
Other than that we have been enjoying each others company from playing tennis, to biking/running together... I'll give you one guess as to who is doing the biking and who is doing the running...and we also checkout a gym near by...easily accessible by bus or bike. I still need to see how that fits into the budget...but it was good to check out. It was probably the nicest in the area but no larger than the gym at UB (if not smaller). And the equipment was simple and gets the job done. No American gym frills like your own personal TV on your elliptical...DARN.
On a foodie note: I tried this new couscous salad recipe. It was suppose to be curried couscous salad... it turned out really good but i think it could have used MUCH more curry than called for in the recipe... either way it was delicious and Selim liked it too...he finished off the entire batch yesterday for dinner.
Moving on... the next few days will be raining. I'm hoping to get some work done at home...
Also our friend JB has a friend in from out of the country... i think we will be meeting up with them today.
Always trying to stay productive and improve my french everyday...more to come soon.
PS. on the way back from my bike ride yesterday I saw a mother holding her young daughter in a sitter position by a bush so that the little girl could pee... that is something which I don't think ill every get used to; the accepted act of children urinating in public.
oh Europe youre full of suprises...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
From "the man store" (France) to the top of a moutian (Spain)
I've been so tired at the end of the days that tonight instead of falling asleep during "football"(soccer) Sunday i figured i should write...
Yesterday was another day of going around from shop to shop debating and deciding what to get for the apartment. It was really good we decided on a dresser from the other day and also picked up some hooks(the kind that you up over your door) for the bedroom and bathroom(cue the alleluia chorus). After we went to...dun dun dun... "the man store" FRANCE style. It was pretty much home depot but there was a little fluff in there too, like pictures/ prints to decorate with, window treatments and wallpapers of all types etc. I think this would be a good business move for home depot because they would DEF get more of a female clientele. Anyway, the reason we were there was to find a proper mirror for our new dresser(check) also found a hamper for MY CLOTHES ONLY. After one practice with the team his clothes and his smell are less than desirable so I was happy... oh and did i mention its RED?! yaya!
After this outing we went to go find some sweet treats to celebrate the EID. We are a multicultural, multi-religious/ non-religious couple oh and we love to eat so why not celebrate?! So we went to a few local Arabic shops and found some delicious desserts to enjoy later... but that's not where it ended... then we decided to venture into making couscous and also some mint tea (Selim's specialty). So...the couscous making went...ehhh ok...i guess. it was edible. lol. I was following Selim who, at the end of it all, was winging it the entire time so... it was good. I think the next time i'll PLAN and make a really good couscous salad, YUM. Ok then the tea which was REALLY good and finally the desserts. Everything was yummy!! An then...I past out from over eating and complete happiness.
Today I slept in. We had planned to play tennis in the AM and then go hiking in the afternoon... the AM part didnt work out due to sleeping, TILL 10am i may add, but the hiking part did. We ended up going to Spain, via a part of France the either of us have been through yet. We drove along the river and searched for a place to hike. This is the area we were in check out our route and the area we hiked in here.We had a nice 2.5 hour hike with his dog... we found some old WWII bunkers on the mountain we were climbing, sheep, a motocross biker and a random RUNNING across the mountain. It was a lot of fun except i stepped into a huge pile of sinking wet gross mud! it was find tho not too wed more just dirty. oh well. It was nice to have my own personal cheerleader all the way to the top. which felt good to get there 1 hour 45 min later uhga... im going to sleep very good tonight.
Slept the whole way home which gave me enough energy to make an amazing dinner (which i had been planning the entire hike!) lol. fettuccine like pasta with LOTS of garlic, peas, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes all in a white wine/ EVOO sauce. YUM YUM YUM if i may say so myself!
Sunday soccer just finished and my very manly man is taking on the task of putting my dresser together... so im just going to supervise. lol. it might be a long night!
Yesterday was another day of going around from shop to shop debating and deciding what to get for the apartment. It was really good we decided on a dresser from the other day and also picked up some hooks(the kind that you up over your door) for the bedroom and bathroom(cue the alleluia chorus). After we went to...dun dun dun... "the man store" FRANCE style. It was pretty much home depot but there was a little fluff in there too, like pictures/ prints to decorate with, window treatments and wallpapers of all types etc. I think this would be a good business move for home depot because they would DEF get more of a female clientele. Anyway, the reason we were there was to find a proper mirror for our new dresser(check) also found a hamper for MY CLOTHES ONLY. After one practice with the team his clothes and his smell are less than desirable so I was happy... oh and did i mention its RED?! yaya!
After this outing we went to go find some sweet treats to celebrate the EID. We are a multicultural, multi-religious/ non-religious couple oh and we love to eat so why not celebrate?! So we went to a few local Arabic shops and found some delicious desserts to enjoy later... but that's not where it ended... then we decided to venture into making couscous and also some mint tea (Selim's specialty). So...the couscous making went...ehhh ok...i guess. it was edible. lol. I was following Selim who, at the end of it all, was winging it the entire time so... it was good. I think the next time i'll PLAN and make a really good couscous salad, YUM. Ok then the tea which was REALLY good and finally the desserts. Everything was yummy!! An then...I past out from over eating and complete happiness.
Today I slept in. We had planned to play tennis in the AM and then go hiking in the afternoon... the AM part didnt work out due to sleeping, TILL 10am i may add, but the hiking part did. We ended up going to Spain, via a part of France the either of us have been through yet. We drove along the river and searched for a place to hike. This is the area we were in check out our route and the area we hiked in here.We had a nice 2.5 hour hike with his dog... we found some old WWII bunkers on the mountain we were climbing, sheep, a motocross biker and a random RUNNING across the mountain. It was a lot of fun except i stepped into a huge pile of sinking wet gross mud! it was find tho not too wed more just dirty. oh well. It was nice to have my own personal cheerleader all the way to the top. which felt good to get there 1 hour 45 min later uhga... im going to sleep very good tonight.
Slept the whole way home which gave me enough energy to make an amazing dinner (which i had been planning the entire hike!) lol. fettuccine like pasta with LOTS of garlic, peas, mushrooms and fresh tomatoes all in a white wine/ EVOO sauce. YUM YUM YUM if i may say so myself!
Sunday soccer just finished and my very manly man is taking on the task of putting my dresser together... so im just going to supervise. lol. it might be a long night!
Friday, September 10, 2010
From a mental break down to peace of mind
So... Today was my day for a bit of culture shock... Yes me.Culture shock, but Ithink it was more than that... a combo of culture shock and home sickness. Most of you reading this understand or can imagine how culture shock feels so I don't think that needs so much explaining. More the second part of homesickness... its not the type of homesickness where I want to jump on the next plane home (sorry rents) but more of missing the comforts of home. My dresser, my desk... just mostly my STUFF. Knowing where I could put everything and where everything goes. oh... and would you believe it... I miss my jobs.
The day started with me going to inquire about doing an internship at a local English school... That was an epic "FRENCH" failure. n the sense that they rejected my proposition of services in the stereotypical, nose in the air, french accent "NO"...So I trudged back home... feeling a bit like a failure and decided to try and raise my spirits by trying to make the bachelor pad more like home.
...Another epic failure. Turns out its not as nice as I thought it would be in my mind. Anyway by the time I organized things I realized it REALLY wouldn't flow as nicely as I thought, Selim arrived home...cue the tears... I think I was mostly worked up about the fact that I'm still not fully moved in and there is no special place for all my things. So (on the other stereotypical spectrum) Selim took me in his, very French, very European arms and reassured me in his very french accent that we would find more space for me in this place.
And that we did. We took the scooter and went around to the shopping center to look for some of the other essentials; phone and phone plan, bike and a dresser + mirror (ikea-type quality). We came home empty handed but thats not to say we failed (YAY!). We did find a dresser and the type of mirror we both liked and decided to go back tomorrow with his very spacey van.
So I feel more calm. Excited to be more moved in and settled. More realxed.
Now all I have to do is undo the design disaster I crated in our TV room and rearrange his desk...again. uhga.
The good things are:
1. tonight is a game night which means tomorrow is mostly free
2. we will get the dresser tomorrow
3. he allows me to figure things out on my own, because he knows if I don't do it or see it for myself I will always be wondering and that would bother me MORE than the feeling of failure I endure by doing it.
The day started with me going to inquire about doing an internship at a local English school... That was an epic "FRENCH" failure. n the sense that they rejected my proposition of services in the stereotypical, nose in the air, french accent "NO"...So I trudged back home... feeling a bit like a failure and decided to try and raise my spirits by trying to make the bachelor pad more like home.
...Another epic failure. Turns out its not as nice as I thought it would be in my mind. Anyway by the time I organized things I realized it REALLY wouldn't flow as nicely as I thought, Selim arrived home...cue the tears... I think I was mostly worked up about the fact that I'm still not fully moved in and there is no special place for all my things. So (on the other stereotypical spectrum) Selim took me in his, very French, very European arms and reassured me in his very french accent that we would find more space for me in this place.
And that we did. We took the scooter and went around to the shopping center to look for some of the other essentials; phone and phone plan, bike and a dresser + mirror (ikea-type quality). We came home empty handed but thats not to say we failed (YAY!). We did find a dresser and the type of mirror we both liked and decided to go back tomorrow with his very spacey van.
So I feel more calm. Excited to be more moved in and settled. More realxed.
Now all I have to do is undo the design disaster I crated in our TV room and rearrange his desk...again. uhga.
The good things are:
1. tonight is a game night which means tomorrow is mostly free
2. we will get the dresser tomorrow
3. he allows me to figure things out on my own, because he knows if I don't do it or see it for myself I will always be wondering and that would bother me MORE than the feeling of failure I endure by doing it.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
From South Africa to France
So first off WELCOME TO MY BLOG!!! It has been a while since I've attempted to do one of these... and now, as some people are afraid I'm never come back state side, I figured this may be a bit useful for us to all stay in touch...even with Skpe, Facebook, E-mail, the Telephone, etc etc.
My first order of duty is to update everyone on my travels in South Africa. It was something which I know, as I am not a writer, I cannot express with words... which is why I have set up a separate and PUBLIC site for everyone to view my pictures from the trip. It is there that I will put the most detail and information. So please take the time to explore this site.
South Africa was defiantly life changing. Although as my mother put it best "your life is in two worlds...you want to volunteer and wear high heels". The most eye opening experience was how little people live with. And live "happily" they do. Houses made of cardboard, dirt floors, crime, racism, outdoor community bathrooms, unemployment, bare feet, etc etc... but behind all these hardships is their FAITH. They are a people of DEEP rooted faith. From the young to the old, their faith is strong and glorified through song, dance, worship, fellowship and prayer.
I had the pleasure of traveling with 22 people form 3 different countries. Germany, South Africa and USA (New York State). I think that a quote from the blog of the US leader, Rick Cowles, said it best in his blog about the trip "I have truly valued the way in which we came together and stayed together despite the challenges of culture, nationhood, gender, race, theology and generation. When we were at Hobbiton, Julian our trainer spoke of what it took to build up a team: the commitment to keep everyone safe and to "be there" for one another, mutual trust, and thinking of the needs of others first." That pretty much sums up the tight bond we have formed between each other. and ya know what else... it was EXCITING to be with people my age who not only go through the motions of practicing their faith but also LIVE by their faith. It was rejuvenating.
To find out more about this trip check out these sites (click on the underlined words)
-Day by Day blog of South Africa Trip
- Information about the Mission
So I made it back to the US and after going through a bout of mild depression; time change, coming off the high of being around people I genuinely enjoyed, missing South Africa and all the inside jokes form our group, I adjusted to life at home. Work, family time, work work work, friends, work work work sleep, etc etc. It was nice to be back home. Spend time with my close friends and enjoy their company. And then before I was completely unpacked I was packing up again!
A three country flight and I'm in France once again. For those of you who don't know I have been dating a wonderful man named Selim, for about 2 years. It has been long distance for a long time and now we are trying to get our lives aligned...at least by being in the same country. So whats the plan you ask?! Well the vague plan: move and find a job. The detailed plan: TBA...sometime in the future. I'm here for three months and will hopefully have a job by then, return to the US, get my visa and jet back to France to continue my new job...but I've learned not to put all my eggs in one basket so I'm constantly checking out other opportunities both here in France and abroad... after all I'm TooYoungToSitStill! haha.
Yesterday was fun, we went shopping essentials for changing this bachelor pad into something with a few more comforts of home...like bathmats, hangers, new water glasses (American sized!), pump hand soap. Also did the essentials for food and toiletries; salad, fruits, veggies, fish, shower gel, a loofah, etc.
Today I'm trying to catch up on my TO-DO list; including revising my resume, making this blog, uploading pics to a public site, and making a poster to be an English tutor.
So to summarize:
-check out the picture blog, have fun exploring
-look at the other web sites to find out more about the trip to South Africa
-make comments and check this often to know the latest from TooYoungToSitStill
My first order of duty is to update everyone on my travels in South Africa. It was something which I know, as I am not a writer, I cannot express with words... which is why I have set up a separate and PUBLIC site for everyone to view my pictures from the trip. It is there that I will put the most detail and information. So please take the time to explore this site.
South Africa was defiantly life changing. Although as my mother put it best "your life is in two worlds...you want to volunteer and wear high heels". The most eye opening experience was how little people live with. And live "happily" they do. Houses made of cardboard, dirt floors, crime, racism, outdoor community bathrooms, unemployment, bare feet, etc etc... but behind all these hardships is their FAITH. They are a people of DEEP rooted faith. From the young to the old, their faith is strong and glorified through song, dance, worship, fellowship and prayer.
I had the pleasure of traveling with 22 people form 3 different countries. Germany, South Africa and USA (New York State). I think that a quote from the blog of the US leader, Rick Cowles, said it best in his blog about the trip "I have truly valued the way in which we came together and stayed together despite the challenges of culture, nationhood, gender, race, theology and generation. When we were at Hobbiton, Julian our trainer spoke of what it took to build up a team: the commitment to keep everyone safe and to "be there" for one another, mutual trust, and thinking of the needs of others first." That pretty much sums up the tight bond we have formed between each other. and ya know what else... it was EXCITING to be with people my age who not only go through the motions of practicing their faith but also LIVE by their faith. It was rejuvenating.
To find out more about this trip check out these sites (click on the underlined words)
-Day by Day blog of South Africa Trip
- Information about the Mission
So I made it back to the US and after going through a bout of mild depression; time change, coming off the high of being around people I genuinely enjoyed, missing South Africa and all the inside jokes form our group, I adjusted to life at home. Work, family time, work work work, friends, work work work sleep, etc etc. It was nice to be back home. Spend time with my close friends and enjoy their company. And then before I was completely unpacked I was packing up again!
A three country flight and I'm in France once again. For those of you who don't know I have been dating a wonderful man named Selim, for about 2 years. It has been long distance for a long time and now we are trying to get our lives aligned...at least by being in the same country. So whats the plan you ask?! Well the vague plan: move and find a job. The detailed plan: TBA...sometime in the future. I'm here for three months and will hopefully have a job by then, return to the US, get my visa and jet back to France to continue my new job...but I've learned not to put all my eggs in one basket so I'm constantly checking out other opportunities both here in France and abroad... after all I'm TooYoungToSitStill! haha.
Yesterday was fun, we went shopping essentials for changing this bachelor pad into something with a few more comforts of home...like bathmats, hangers, new water glasses (American sized!), pump hand soap. Also did the essentials for food and toiletries; salad, fruits, veggies, fish, shower gel, a loofah, etc.
Today I'm trying to catch up on my TO-DO list; including revising my resume, making this blog, uploading pics to a public site, and making a poster to be an English tutor.
So to summarize:
-check out the picture blog, have fun exploring
-look at the other web sites to find out more about the trip to South Africa
-make comments and check this often to know the latest from TooYoungToSitStill
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